Music and the senses

Did you ever notice that when you smell something familiar, it can bring back a memory or flashback of something that has happened in your past? The sense of smell is the strongest out of all the sense and can instigate people to recall memories that occured even years prior. This what happened to me today, except the smell helped me to remember a certain song that I was listening to some time ago.

I was walking through Bloomingdales today and an older lady, probably in her mid 50s, walked past me. The smell of her perfume swarmed around me and I knew that that smell was seemingly familiar. After thinking about it for a series of minutes, I was finally able to recall why the smell was so familiar to me.

The image of being in the Beacon Theater in New York City instantly came into my head, once I was able to pinpoint what the smell reminded me of. The perfume that that woman was wearing was the same perfume as a woman I had met in NYC while at an Allman Brothers concert in the city. I was at the concert with a friend of mine, and we were by far the youngest people in the venue. The woman in front of us had taken special notice of myself and my friend (probably since we were a generation younger than everybody else) and had seemed so ecstatic that people in a generation younger than herself were still able to enjoy and appreciate her the music of her own generation. We had a profound musical conversation and found a majority of similarities between ourselves. It was clear that I had made an impact on her life, and she did on mine as well.

The senses really are an incredible thing and even have a link the the world of music. It's interesting how one smell can help me to recall such a specific image that occurred in my history. It makes me wonder if the perfume that I wear can perhaps have an effect on someone else, as the woman in the store did with me today.

College; a place to find out who you are

So I have just arrived from my first semester of college. WHAT?!

How did this happen? Why does time go by so fast when you're having a good time? Why can't the good times last longer and the bad times be shorter?

These are all things I was thinking about while on the train on my way back to Long Island, a four hour drive from Skidmore. First semester of school exceeded my expectations, and I learned a lot in my classes and a lot about myself. I've surrounded myself with friends that I know will last for a long time and I'm slowly starting to learn more and more about myself and my own interests.

The first thing I did once I got home was see my best friend (who's name is also Lauren), whom I have been friends with for the last 11 years. We met in first grade and became best friends in 3rd grade, and have remained best friends since. One of the first things she told me about was the new friends that she made at school. A few of her best friends happen to be huge phish fans (like me!) and are all going to the 3 shows in new york city on new years eve weekend. WOAH. This is so cool that my best friend is finally meeting people like me and who can share my enjoyment in attending these sorts of concerts. They convinced her to go, so now I am convinced I am going to have the best new years eve weekend of my life, with my favorite band and my best friend.

Who knew that college could transform people into liking different things, music, and ideas? My friend had never been into the same music as me before school, but now we are both going to the same concert. I'm convinced that college brings out the best in people, and helps people to find their way through learning and experience.


I wonder what new things next semester is going to bring!

Chinese culture and the mind

I've always found Chinese music and culture to be intriguing. The people of china believe that music can make every day life better, something that I believe as well. The Chinese make music and important part of school so that children grow up understanding the meaning and value of music. Meditation is also a large part of Chinese music, since it goes along with the whole theme of relaxation, understanding, and living a healthy lifestyle. Traditional chinese music consists of strings, woodwinds, and percussion. Here's a little clip of some traditional sounding chinese music.
Chinese Music

Music is something of the soul, that can be seen differently for every individual. It  can provide people with experiences, relaxation, or even a place to hold their faith. Meditation is a huge part of chinese culture, due to the writings of Confucius. Chinese music is very peaceful and I can say from personal experience, that is relieves stress and relaxes the mind and soul. Whenever I'm having a stressful day, I usually like to do some form of meditation which can only be done while listening to relaxing and simplistic music. Stress is strictly a psychological thing but I have learned that there are plenty of ways that it can be reduced, and the majority of the ways that it works for me is through the beauty of music.

Il Divo

So I recently came across this new band called "Il Divo" who I think are pretty awesome. They are not necessarily a band of a different culture, but rather are four men from totally different heritages that came together and formed a band. One of from Sweden, and the others are from America, Spain, and France. They were all famous opera singers in their home places and they came together to create a terrific harmonizing band that performs in Spain and the United States. Though I don't speak spanish, I love listening to all of their songs (though I can't understand what they mean haha). The song "Regrasa a mi" is such a beautiful song, with all of the harmonies and beautiful ethereal tones.

Here's a link to a video of the song Regrasa A Mi.

Regresa a mi - Il Divo

An african adventure

While I was surfing the internet today, I came across a cool african website that featured a lot of information about the african culture as well as links to african music. Me, being the music freak that I am, of course visited the links leading to african music, which I actually found to be really awesome. Here's the first link that I went to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96SxKk0zeek

I thought this was really cool because it involved multiple elements of music. It started off with a more relaxed brass sector and then evolves into an upbeat tune with drums and African singing. The complexity of the piece is pretty interesting since it goes from one type of genre to another. I really like the african voices because it adds a lot of diversity into the song itself, ultimately making the song more interesting.

Listening to music of different cultures is so cool for me since I am very into traveling and learning about new interesting things. Listening to this kind of stuff makes me feel like I'm in an African safari, which is something I have always wanted to do. Its amazing what music can do to a person; deceive them into thinking that they are in a different place than they actually are, and the creative things that it stimulates the brain to do. Every type of music makes me think of something different, whether it be a color, a painting, or an experience. But listening to culturally diverse music makes me able to think that I am on some sort of trip to a different country or place, which is something that I love to do.

A desire for more

I've recently  had an epiphany and realized that I need to expand my knowledge of music. I tend to find things that I like and then forget about everything else that's out there, by just sticking to the things I know I like. But I recent desire to widen my musical range has overcome me. Although the jam and rock scene will always be my favorite, I do think it's important to be well rounded and knowledge about music of different genres.

 So, I've decided that I want to explore music that is created in different cultures. While listening to a pandora mix on my computer the other day, a song that entailed spanish guitar came on and I all of a sudden found a new interest of mine. Here's a link to one of the songs that I have been listening to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3KLPTHg9Nc&playnext=1&list=PL4C834FC6DF576ECB&index=28

The passion that the guitarist portrays is simply breath-taking and the complexity of the piece as a whole is something that I find to be very impressive. I'll most likely be listening to spanish guitar for a while, while still exploring other types of music.

Ethereal tones, the center of my world

I'm currently listening to one of my favorite Phish songs, Character Zero, and it makes me think about life and where I currently am in life today. It is by far one of my favorite songs by the band and it always is a way to lift up my mood and make my day a little brighter, especially when I'm not having that great of a day. Music has given me something to lean back on and to count on, and one thing about it that is different than anything else is that it will never go away. It will be there through anything, to get people through hard times or just provide them with moments of pleasure. It can also give people something to look forward to, such as myself. I can't stop thinking about seeing them in NYC on New Year's Eve, with all of my friends and family. It's going to be a New Year's Eve to remember, once again.

Funny enough, Phish actually is one of the reasons why I got into Skidmore College. In my art class junior year, I had been working on an art project that was based off of the Phish song "Divided Sky", and had created a work of art based off of what I saw and felt in my head. I decided to write about this experience of turning one form of art (music) into another (art piece). Whenever I heard colors, I would draw them onto my art piece. When I heard a C major chord, I would draw specific colors that it made me think of, in the order that I heard them. My art piece ended up being put into an art show in my school and was looked upon highly by the art and music teachers. The experience that I had with two art forms of which I have so much passion and energy for is just unexplainable.

Essentially, music is the core of everything, living and un-living. It depends on how a person looks at the world and incorporates their music in their life. It affects my past, present, and future and will continue to for the rest of my life.